Yen’s Cafe

Went to lunch here with a couple of friends. Nice family owned chinese-​thai restaurant with good food at a reasonable price. Check for restaurant hours before going… Not open on weekends.

Vacationing with family. We enjoyed the delicious chinese/​vietnamese dishes. I recommended the blac beans sauce green beans, house special friedrice, beef w/​mix veggies and spicy pork.

They accept payment with personal check, however, they take an entire month to cash it.

Glad we decided to eat here. Came it around 6pm wasn’t busy. There was only one other couple in the restaurant. Was seated immediately.
Took a whole to browse the menu. Everything looked really good. Decided on a Vietnamese Crêpe, howevee they were out of that, so I chose the summer roll and the special cake noodle (mind you I love me some cake noodle, so it has to be good). The summer roll came first. It was filled with shrimp and chicken and had mint, it was really good and refreshing. They put a lot of noodles inside of it too which makes it worth it. Finished the roll and waited a bit for my noodles. But let me tell you, it was worth the wait. The cake noodle was refreshing and hot. Very clean tasting. It was flavourful and rich, but didn’t leave me feeling heavy.
Will definately come back, and recommend to anyone visitin!

good service, food is great. We ordered string beans with black bean sauce, salt and pepper shrimp, grilled chicken and all of then taste good. Definitely the best Chinese restaurant in Hilo.

Yen’s has become one of our favorite places in Hilo for a low-​key affordable quick meal, so I’m rounding them up to 5 stars. Not because it’s perfect but because I’ve just come to really like them. CASH-​ONLY. Lots of fresh vegetables and bright flavors. Favorites include the egg rolls, kung pao chicken (often includes chunks of zucchini and carrot), Vietnamese bun noodle bowl. Pork string beans absolutely delicious.
Yes, like many Hilo restaurants, it could use some décor updates and yes, the service by the owner’s children is fine, but not super professional, ’cause, you know, they’re in high school and it’s not their career. They’re doing their homework while they serve you. But you know what? The flip side of that lack of pretension is that if you order carefully you can manage a decent meal for 2 here for $ 20 including tax and tip.
And one night actor Jason Scott Lee was eating there too, so «local celebrity approved.»

A cute family owned business! CASH ONLY! Their cold noodle bowls are my fav. Very fresh and filling. Their sauce is perfect for this dish so I order extra!

Had the Mongolian Shrimp Stir Fried Noodle (somewhat custom order). It was killer! Not as many vegetables as the other Asian joints. Wife had the Spicy Beef Phở. She loved it! Pretty spicy… Not for the faint of heart. Also had the Summer Roll (very similar to Spring Roll), and the sauce with it was good, as were the rolls themselves. Food was colorful to the eyes and the tongue, also the tummy. Great food! Great service. Would definitely recommend.

Was really hungry and didnt know where to eat so came here didnt think it would be good but was good. Got the salt n pepper squid, spicy tofu lemongrass, n spicy pork :-)

Great food, lots of fresh salads and herbs, Great cold noodles, and is also quite cheap. The local could definitely use a new coat of paint, but the same is true for half of Hilo’s business :-)

Yen’s Café is a tiny gem. From the modest exterior one would never suspect the delicious food within.
The menu is ambitious, offering far more variety than many restaurants with large staffs. Yet with only one or two people working the kitchen they manage to keep orders coming, and coming right. The food always seems fresh, vegetables bright and crisp.
If more than one person is working in the kitchen, it is likely that one of those people will be handling at least some of the serving responsibilities.
Be warned there is no restroom apparent. Perhaps in an emergency some facility in the kitchen could be used, but plan to come with hands already washed and bladder emptied.
Particularly delightful are the cold rice noodle bowls – fresh vegetables and rice noodles on a bit of lettuce. On a day the heat and humidity are up and you are looking for something light and refreshing, these are perfect. They are served with a sauce based on sweet chili sauce and peanuts — nice and spicy. the sauce is served in a small bowl on the side so you can adjust the amount to your taste. I am especially fond of the number 35 which includes grilled chicken and egg rolls. The chicken is skinless and well-​trimmed dark meat.
Most of the customers are locals who know what food is available in Hilo, and know where to find the good stuff. Tourists who stop in generally have done their research in advance. While service is prompt, it is not unusual to find a line of people just after noon. With the limited number of tables it is best to try to avoid peak meal times.
Parking is shared with other little businesses. It is generally adequate for the few tables, but maneuvering in and out of the lot can be challenging.
Many of the menu items really call for a cold beer. Alas, none is to be had here. You probably will just be drinking water.
The value is excellent, part of what makes it so popular with the locals who can afford to take their lunch here regularly. Only cash is accepted, but you will not need a lot to cover your tab.

I will usually give a restaurant at least 2 tries. In this case I gave it 3. Their Phở tastes as though their soup came from a can of beef broth. It had no flavor of spices or marrow that I expect from the Vietnamese dish. The waitress did not smile, in fact she obviously did not want to be there. Something you’ll see in a family restaurant business, but it didn’t help the poor quality of Phở.

I was hesitant to stop in this hole-​in-​the-​wall «mom & pop» (literally — family owned) bistro. It is smaller than you would expect a restaurant would be, but don’t let that stop you from giving it a shot.
I walked in and noticed this very quaint small setup with about 6 good sized tables including booths. I was greeted right away by, assuming, the son and daughter — and my order was taken promptly. Very quick and efficient service.
I ordered the summer rolls as I usually always do at a Vietnamese eatery, but I was brought the spring rolls by mistake. Instead of correcting the young girl, I ate it — insisting that I break habit and be adventurous on vacation. High risk, high reward. This was my first time having this dish and I was utterly impressed by the freshness and flavor. The spring rolls were about 7″ in length and served with romain lettuce and a sweet sauce. You wrap the spring rolls in the lettuce and dip, dunk, and do it again!
I got the combination beef phở equipped and fully loaded with thick cuts of brisket and steak. So hearty! The tendons were thick and chewy, the tripe was perfectly cooked and plentiful. The broth, which makes any phở dish, was flavorful and clean tasting. The fresh, bountiful basil and parsley helped enhance the herbal concoction; the sliced green jalepenos added the nostalgic spicy kick I crave.
No refills offered for water, so drink sparingly or be prepared to wave one of the kids down for a refill.
Best phở is Hilo! Must try!

Solid place. Very fast service. We especially enjoyed the cake noodle with vegetables and the egg foo yung.

Very friendly family restaurant. Veggies look and taste home grown. Phở shrimp was very good. Also pork fried rice was unique and very tasty.

Great service from friendly family members. The phở and the chow fun are great!
Serves both Vietnamese & Chinese food and it is all delicious!
String beans with garlic black bean sauce keeps me coming back.
Large fresh shrimp with veg in a lite sauce is best I have eaten anywhere!

Second attempt at new places to try in Hilo, from fellow Unilocalers’ recommendations. Sadly to say, second strike of the day.
I’m a massively huge fan of Vietnamese, and it’s a shame we just don’t have the Vietnamese populace here to warrant better restaurants.
Reading previous reviews of Yen’s, someone mentioned this is not real Vietnamese food. I would have to actually agree. Well, it might not be authentic like you would get in Saigon, but it is still technically called Vietnamese food, akin to a California Roll being called Japanese food.
I wanted to order the pork chop plate with crab cake, a pretty good example of what Vietnamese eat (it’s not just phở, which many people may think), but was told they didn’t have any crab cake. :(
That lead me to choose the grilled pork with egg roll vermicelli noodles (bun thit noung cha gio). This is kind of like the Chicken Teriyaki of Vietnamese food, the safe American-​friendly go-​to dish.
I have no problem with that, and can usually use this to gauge flavor to other restaurants. Same goes with phở. Same goes with Pad Thai and green papaya salad when eating Thai food.
Anyhow, on to the dish. The rice bowl came out and looked great. When adding my hot sauce and fish sauce, I noticed there was not a lot of pork in it. Just a few carefully layered pieces to appear more abundant than it really was.
Next, the fried egg rolls were pretty thin and left a lot to be desired. Lots of layers of rice paper, not a lot going on in between though.
Once all mixed and eaten, there was something missing… flavor. It was just very bland. I really wish I could say better things about it, but it just wasn’t good.
I would have to honestly say this is the least tasty Vietnamese food I have ever tried. I won’t say that it was bad, I’ve yet to eat bad Vietnamese, because I could still eat and finish it. Perhaps I have been too spoiled with amazing restaurants when in the mainland, but even locally, the others I have tried are better– even dare I say it, Bale (yikes!). Yes, Bale is better than this.

CASH ONLY.
Other than that, they are all pretty awesome lol

This review is based on the Phở Dac Biet.
This is not authentic Vietnamese food and it is a disservice to other Unilocalers for other it to be described as such. I had such high hopes after reading some of these reviews and was utterly dissappointed with my Phở Dac Biet. There was no beefiness to the broth (lack of or not enough beef bone marrow when making the broth) and it was too overly seasoned (heavy on star anise) and also slightly sweet. I come from San Jose, CA so I know what Phở is supposed to taste like and this was on the low end of authenticity. It was sad to see the thickly sliced rare beef and thickly sliced fatty brisket, tiny bits of tripe and 1 beef ball sliced in half. The bean sprouts were small and dried up as was the slice of lemon (small and dried up). Luckily, I was hungry and it was edible.
On another note, this appears to be a family run restaurant and I have to appreciate that. The kids sit around watching tv and help out when customers come in. We were never greeted by an adult — actually, never greeted at all — and at no time did an adult come out from the kitchen. The daughter just came up and dropped some menus off on our table then only spoke when taking our order to confirm what we were ordering. From the sound of things, it was one adult in the rear kitchen fulfilling all the orders. Or order of 5 different dishes came out one at a time, about 5 minutes apart after an initial 30 minute wait. I could forgive the long wait for our food if the food was reasonable, but again, it is a disservice to Unilocal to call this authentic Vietnamese food.

After visiting the famous Saturday Hilo Farmer’s market, and not finding anything savory I wanted for lunch, I started craving vietnamese bun (cold vermicelli salad). I thought… if it’s hot in San Jose, what do I eat? Bun! So after Unilocaling, I ended up at this hole in the wall, mom and pop restaurant.
Just like in San Jose, the kids were helping out running the restaurant. I felt bad cuz the little boy had to vacate the only table left for me. I told the girl he could stay… but he had to play in the kitchen.
Ordered the chicken/​fried roll bun. Was deeeelish! Good porportion of the greens, herbs, noodles. The fried rolls were skinnier than usual but just as good. Chicken was less portion than restaurants back home, but fine w/​me cuz it filled me up… and the quality was tastier. I was also surprised, as the fish sauce wasn’t watered down for the unseasoned tourist palates. Spice just right. Noodles were «al dente». No skimpping on the herbs. I have a feeling this is a locals place.
If you are into service, décor etc, you should probably go else where. In my experience, whether in the states or abroad… the BEST food are at places that look sketchy.
When I left, I saw all these suckers next door eating expensive fried foods, when Yen’s was just next door! Their loss; b